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(Continued)
"Are you
Mistress Chandelay’s daughter?"
Jerked from her
daydream, Elly dropped her carding and looked up with a gasp to
see the gangly man standing before her. It took a few seconds
before she realized what he’d said. With her heart pounding so
loudly that she expected to see the walls of her house vibrating,
she nodded vigorously.
"I didn’t
introduce myself, did I?" He extended one hand, palm upward,
which she accepted with a giggle. His hand was quite a bit larger
than hers, and as rough as her father’s. But her father didn’t
have such a wonderfully fascinating hat. "I’m Piper, Miss
Chandelay."
"Elly,"
she said shyly. "Miss Chandelay is only for when I’m in
trouble, or when my aunt is visiting."
"My apologies,
Miss Elly." He bestowed her with that shining, gentle smile
and tugged her hand lightly, pulling her to her feet and forcing
her to abandon any thoughts of reclaiming her carding. Not that
she wanted to do that; it seemed like for every basket of wool she
carded, there were two more waiting in the kitchen. "Would
you be so kind as to show me to your mother? Mayor Tommer said
that I would be able to board here while I worked."
"What are you
going to do?" she asked as she led the gangly man around the
house to the back door. Then her jaw dropped when the first part
of his statement hit her. "You’re going to stay here?"
"If your
mother agrees, Miss Elly."
She looked
hesitantly down at his dirty boots, and without a word being
spoken, he stepped out of them and into the house, revealing socks
that had plainly been patched as often as the rest of his clothes.
Certainly her mother would have relegated them to the rag pile
long ago, had they belonged to Elly. "You’ll need to take
off your coat and hat, too. You can hang them here." She
waved at the pegs mounted on the wall of the back entrance, where
her own raincoat and hat hung.
He stripped off his
coat without question, hanging it neatly next to hers, but frowned
slightly when his hand closed around the brim of his hat, almost
protectively. "I’m a bit fond of my hat, Miss Elly. Do you
think, maybe—"
"I’m sure
mother won’t mind," she assured him quickly. Wouldn’t
Rachel be so jealous when she found out that Piper was staying at
Elly’s house? Ha! She didn’t even know his name! That would
stop her chatter about her boyfriend, sure as the sun rose in the
east. And wasn’t it just lovely the way he called her Miss Elly,
like she was someone important. So what if he wanted to wear his
hat inside. If she had a hat like that, she’d want to wear it
all the time. Maybe, she thought suddenly, if she was really,
really good, he’d let her take a closer look! Or even wear it!
With that thought
in mind, she led Piper into the kitchen, where she found her
mother humming a cheery tune as she carefully pressed air holes
into a pie crust with her fork. She covered it with a cloth,
preparing to take it to the baker—who would cook her meals for a
small fee—and turned to see the gangly man standing next to her
daughter.
Chelsea Chandelay
was stunned. A neat woman by nature, she never would have guessed
that a man dressed in such patchwork clothing, with an absolutely
ridiculous hat, standing in his much-worn stocking feet, could
seem so reassuring. "Don’t worry," he seemed to say,
though his lips didn’t move except to form a quiet, calming
smile. "Don’t you worry, Mistress Chandelay. You’ll carry
this one safe, and Miss Elly will have herself a second
sibling." That should have been alarming by itself, as she
had only just become aware of her condition today, and no one else
had been told yet. But here he stood, this tall, gangly man, and
she could only feel reassured.
"Mister Piper,
this is my mother. Mom, this is Mister Piper."
Piper flashed a
warm smile, somehow making it seem as though she had known him for
years. Even knowing that she had just met him, the smile still
gave her the pleasant sensation of being unexpectedly remembered.
"Pleased to meet you, Mistress Chandelay."
"The pleasure
is mine, Mister Piper."
"Just Piper,
please, Miss Elly, Mistress Chandelay."
"Then I’m
Chelsea."
Elly was
disappointed to be losing the Miss so soon, but Piper looked down
at her and winked from beneath his hat. "I’ll still call
you Miss Elly, if you like."
"Thank you,
M— Piper."
Looking around
absently, he noted, "No rats in here." Chelsea
stiffened—who was he to come into her kitchen and talk about
rats like he expected to see the nasty creatures crawling
everywhere? Hastily, he added, "I was under the impression
that there were rats everywhere."
"Rats don’t
come into my kitchen," she declared firmly. "They may be
everywhere else, but not my kitchen."
"I’ll
believe that. Now, Mayor Tommer told me that you might have a room
for me? Just for one or two nights." He smiled hopefully at
her from beneath that slightly ridiculous hat.
"Of course.
Elly, show him to the guest room. He can leave his sack there."
"Thank you,
Chelsea." He leaned over and picked up her pie. "Miss
Elly can show me where the baker’s is afterwards and I’ll drop
this off for you." Then the tall man and slightly short girl
left her kitchen, and Chelsea shook her head. What a charming man
Piper was. Pity he would be here for such a short time. He might
have been able to teach her son some manners. She quickly shoved
aside the thought that crept up when she looked at the place where
her pie had sat seconds before, dismissing it as coincidence or a
familiarity with her kind of town.
She hadn't told
Piper that she wanted the pie taken anywhere.
(Turn
the page) |
